The Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery is a bylaw of the Ministry of Magic, written in 1875, which bans the use of underage magic outside of school. The Decree is enforced by the Improper Use of Magic Office in the Ministry of Magic. The restriction is for wizards and witches who are under the age of seventeen, upon which The Trace still operates. Even so, the Ministry does recognise that they may have to use magic in certain situations such as self-defence in a life-threatening situation. In addition, young children of below school age, or children who are not in possession of a wand, are mostly exempt from the rule since they usually have little or no control over the magic they perform. Overall, it appears the Ministry of Magic generally limits enforcement of the decree to situations where underage wizards perform magic in front of Muggles.

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Paragraph C of the clause states that it is a crime to knowingly perform magic in a Muggle-inhabited area and in the presence of a Muggle. However, Clause 7 also states that magic can be used in front of Muggles in exceptional circumstances, including situations when the life of the witch or wizard is threatened, or the lives of other witches, wizards and Muggles are threatened.[1]

Also, it seems that a high-authority person may give permission for an underage student to perform magic under circumstances; as HogwartsHeadmaster, Albus Dumbledore gave Harry Potter such an instruction if an attack was to eventuate, when he was 16 years old.[2]

It also appears that the riding of broomsticks does not constitute the "use" of magic, as Harry once played Quidditch with the Weasley's in 1994 shortly after the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, and none of them were expelled from Hogwarts.

Hermione told Harry Potter and Ron Weasley just prior to their first year at Hogwarts that she had successfully cast a few spells[3], but apparently, she received no notice or warning about this being banned.

Acquitted of all charges due to the fact that he technically did not break any laws. Dolores Umbridge was the one who secretly orchestrated this incident as part of the smear campaign against Harry.[1]

Undetected breaches

Harry Potter performed the Wand-Lighting Charm shortly after his illegal usage of the Patronus Charm and letter, it did not add to his offence.[1]

Bellatrix Lestrange trained her nephew Draco Malfoy in various fields of magic, which would most likely require Draco himself to use magic, during his summer vacation at age 16. Due to Draco being raised in a magical household, with both his mother and aunt being adult witches (albeit the latter being a wanted criminal), Draco's breaches could not be detected.[6]